Revolving cloth mop

ABSTRACT

A surface cleaning device, such as a mop, which includes a T-frame, a cleaning cloth, a piece of string and two hooks as its basic components, is provided. The T-frame is comprised of a handle and a shoe. The string passes through a hole near the top of the handle and is attach to the ends of the cloth by two hooks, pulling the cloth tightly against the shoe. One section of the cloth is under the shoe, and in contact with the floor, at a time. Once this section is soiled, it is replaced with an adjacent clean section of the cloth by pulling the string. A roller is provided to make pulling the string easier. When the entire cloth is soiled, it can be unhooked to be washed or replaced.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Surface cleaning devices and mops.

2. Prior Arts

Existing mops which utilize cloth to clean smooth floors and surfaces bring the entire cloth in contact with the floor at the same time. As a result, the entire cloth becomes soiled at the same time. If a clean cloth is desired for the next section of the floor, the entire cloth must either be washed or replaced. If the mop is used with a wet cloth, to dry the floor quickly, another dry cloth is required.

In this design, only one section of the cloth is in contact with the floor at a time. When this section gets soiled, it can be replaced with a clean section of the same cloth by turning a roller, or by pulling the string. Different sections of the same cloth can be used wet or dry and if one section is used wet a dry section can be pulled under the shoe to quickly dry the floor.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A surface cleaning device, such as a mop, which includes a T-frame, a cleaning cloth, a piece of string and two hooks as its basic components, is provided. The T-frame is comprised of a handle and a shoe. The string passes through a hole near the top of the handle and is attach to the ends of the cloth by two hooks, pulling the cloth tightly against the shoe. One section of the cloth is under the shoe, and in contact with the floor, at a time. Once this section is soiled, it is replaced with an adjacent clean section of the cloth by pulling the string. A roller is provided to make pulling the string easier. When the entire cloth is soiled, it can be unhooked to be washed or replaced.

The advantages of this invention are:

-   -   Easy replacement of the soiled section of the cloth with a clean         section, by pulling a string or turning a roller.     -   Different sections of the same cloth can be used, while wet or         dry. A dry section of the same cloth can be used to dry the         floor after wet cleaning.     -   The cloth is used most efficiently, because every available         section of both sides of the cloth can be used before having to         wash or replace it.     -   The cloth is reusable and, therefore, environmentally friendly.     -   The specially designed hooks allow for easy removal and         replacement of the soiled cloth, and provide adjustable tension         to the cloth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the front view of the T-frame.

FIG. 2 shows the loop formed by the cloth and the string.

FIG. 3 shows the side view of the T-frame with the cloth and the string attached.

FIG. 4 shows the connection between the string and the cloth.

FIG. 5 shows the special hook used to adjust the tension of the cloth.

FIG. 6 shows the front view of the T-frame with the roller and the string.

FIG. 7 shows the side view of the T-frame with the roller and the string.

FIG. 8 shows the side view of the T-frame with the roller, string, and the cloth attached.

FIG. 9 shows the roller with the string wrapped around it.

FIG. 10 shows the side view of the cylindrical bracket while connected to the handle.

FIG. 11 shows the front view of the cylindrical bracket while connected to the handle.

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of the wire bracket.

FIG. 13 shows the side view of the wire bracket while connected to the handle.

FIG. 14 shows the top view of the wire bracket while connected to the handle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A surface cleaning device which utilizes a cloth to clean smooth surfaces, such as floors, walls, ceilings, doors and table tops, is described in conjunction with the attached drawings. The device is comprised of a T-frame, a rectangular cloth, a piece of string, two special hooks, a roller and its bracket.

The T-frame, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a handle 1 and a shoe 2. The T-frame can be made of rigid plastic, wood, metal or a combination of these materials. The shoe 2 is shown with a circular cross section, however it can have any suitable cross section such as rectangular or triangular.

The cloth 5 can be made of terry cloth, microfiber, or other absorbent material. Two knotted strings 9, which have a few knots at equal distances along their lengths, are permanently attached to the opposite ends of the cloth 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, the string 4 passes through the hole 3, near the top of the handle 1, and is connected to the opposite ends of the cloth 5 through the combination of the hooks 7 and knotted strings 9. This allows the cloth 5 to be supported by the frame and be pulled tightly against the shoe 2. FIG. 2 shows the basic loop formed between the cloth 5 and the string 4 with the T-frame eliminated for clarity.

FIG. 5 shows the special hook 7, made of steel, which has a narrow slot that can engage and grab any of the knots 10 on the knotted string 9. FIG. 4 shows the special hook 7 grabbing one of the knots of the knotted string 9. By engaging the hooks with different knots the tension of the cloth 5 can be adjusted. A small chain can be used instead of the knotted string 9.

During the cleaning process, the section of the cloth 5 under the shoe 2 is pushed over a smooth surface. When this section of the cloth is soiled, it can be replaced with the adjacent clean section by pulling the string 4. Different or consecutive sections of the same cloth can be used while wet or dry. For wet application, the floor, or the section of the cloth 5 under the shoe 2, can be sprayed with water, soap, or other cleaners. To dry the wet floor, the string 4 is pulled and a dry section of the cloth 5 replaces the previous wet section.

The string 4 can be pulled manually or by using a roller or a lever. A roller 8, with two different brackets, is designed for this device. The roller 8 is comprised of a shaft 11 and two caps 12 as shown in FIG. 9. For clarity, In FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8, the roller 8 is shown without a bracket. The two caps 12, as shown in FIG. 9, are used as knobs to grip while turning the roller 8, they are suitable for right or left handed operation. The roller 8 can be made of plastic, wood, metal, or other suitable material. The string 4 is wrapped around the shaft 11 five turns or more as necessary to create enough friction between the shaft and the string to be able to pull the cloth 5, by turning the roller 8.

To keep the hooks in place and the string from getting entangled when the cloth is removed, a closed loop is formed by the string independent of the cloth, as follows. A second hole 6 is provided in the handle 1 near the shoe 2. The string 4, which is wrapped around the shaft 11, is passed through the holes 3 and 6 and its ends are tied together forming a closed loop around the length of the handle 1. This is shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8.

The roller 8 requires a bracket to be attached to the mop handle. This bracket must allow for both rotational and lateral movements of the roller. The lateral movement is forced by the string loops traveling along the shaft as the roller is turned. Since the string is under tension and is restricted in lateral movement, instead, it pulls the shaft through its loops and the bracket bearings. The space between the caps of the roller and the sides of the bracket must be enough to allow this lateral movement. Two brackets are designed which meet the above requirements, as follows.

Bracket 13, as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, is a hollow cylinder made of plastic, metal, or other solid material with two openings 14 and 15 acting as bearings for the shaft 11. The bracket 13 is attached to the handle 1 by screws 16 and 17. The shaft 11 is free to rotate and move laterally inside the openings 14 and 15, within the confines of its caps 12. The string 4, which is wrapped around the shaft 11, is free to be pulled up and down inside the hollow cylinder of the bracket 13 by turning the roller 8.

An alternative bracket 18, as shown in FIG. 12, FIG. 13, and FIG. 14, is made of steel wire and is mounted to the handle 1 by inserting its ends into opposite holes across the handle, as shown in FIG. 14. The shaft 11 is free to rotate and move laterally inside the two loops of the bracket 18, within the confines of its caps 12. The open area between the two loops allows the up and down movement of the string 4, when the roller is turned. The horizontal portion of the bracket 18 that connects the two loops together is bent away from the shaft 11 to stay clear of the string 4 that is wrapped around it. 

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 7. A surface cleaning device which includes a T-frame comprised of a shoe and a handle, a long cloth, a string and two hooks; a hole is provided through the handle near the top of the handle bellow the hand grip perpendicular to the front view of the T-frame, the string passes through this hole, the ends of the string attach to the ends of the cloth by means of the two hooks, or other fasteners, forming a tight loop with the cloth as the cloth passes under the shoe and contacts the surface to be cleaned, when the section of the cloth under the shoe is soiled it can be replaced with an adjacent clean section of the cloth by pulling the string; when the entire cloth is soiled it can be detached from the string to be washed or replaced by a new cloth; in order to keep the string untangled and the hooks in place while the cloth is detached from the string a second hole is provided through the handle perpendicular to the front view of the T-frame near the shoe and the string is passed through this second hole as well and the ends of the string are tied together so that the string forms a closed loop independent of the cloth, the cloth passes under the shoe with one end attached to the string in front of the T-frame and the other end attached to the string on the back side of the T-frame between the two holes of the handle by means of the two hooks; the length of the string between the two hooks is such that any desired section of the cloth can be pulled under the shoe by pulling the string and thereby replacing any soiled section with any clean section of the cloth; the closed string loop being independent of the cloth keeps the string untangled and the hooks in place while the cloth is detached from the string, this makes it easy to attach a new cloth to the string.
 8. The surface cleaning device of claim 1 with two fasteners where each fastener consists of a hook and a short chain or knotted string, the hooks are permanently connected to the string of claim 1 and each knotted string or chain is permanently connected to each end of the cloth; by engaging the hook with different knots of the knotted string or different links of the chain the cloth is supported and at the same time the tension of the cloth is adjusted, The knotted string is a short piece of string with a few knots along its length where the hook can engage and grab any one of them.
 9. The surface cleaning devise of claim 1 with a roller that can rotate inside a bracket, the bracket is mounted to the front of the handle bellow the top hole of the handle, the roller is comprised of a cylindrical shaft with two caps at its ends, the string is wrapped around the shaft as many turns as needed to create enough friction between the shaft and the string so that the string can be pulled by rotating the shaft, the shaft is rotated by manually turning either of the end caps, the caps remain outside the bracket and extend to the right and the left of the bracket if one is looking at the front view of the T-frame, the shaft can slide to the left or to the right along its axis through the bracket allowing the lateral movement required by the string wrapped around the shaft, when the string is pulled up or dawn it also tends to move laterally along the shaft, this lateral movement is limited by the distance between the caps.
 10. The surface cleaning device of claim 1 utilizing a short hollow cylindrical bracket which is attached to the front of the handle bellow the top hole, the axis of the cylinder is parallel with the axis of the handle, the string running between the two holes in front of the the handle enters the top of the hollow cylinder, wraps around the shaft and then exits the bottom of the hollow cylinder on its way to the other hole in the handle near the shoe; the shaft which is perpendicular to the axis of the hollow cylinder passes through two holes provided in the opposite side walls of the hollow cylinder such that the shaft is parallel with the axis of the shoe; the holes in the side walls of the cylinder allow for rotation and lateral movement of the shaft between the caps.
 11. The surface cleaning device of claim 1 utilizing a bracket formed out of a piece of steel wire such that two identical loops are formed to function as bearings for the shaft and to hold the shaft parallel to the axis of the shoe, in front of the handle and bellow the top hole; the horizontal section of the wire connecting the two loops is parallel with the shaft and rests against the front of the handle providing clearance for the shaft and the string wrapped around the shaft; the ends of the wire forming the loops are bent toward the handle such that the two ends have a common axis perpendicular to the handle; two opposite holes with a common axis parallel to the axis of the shoe are provided in the handle to receive the ends of the wire to hold the wire bracket and the shaft in place; the string is wrapped around the shaft between the two bracket bearings and the roller caps remain outside the bracket bearings limiting the lateral movement of the shaft. 